A few weeks ago, the Georgia Senate passed a measure to make it easier for new hospitals to be built in smaller counties without the state’s approval. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is now taking steps to pressure House leaders to follow suit, a move that would allow a proposed hospital to move forward in his own home county.
Several House lawmakers say Jones’ camp has made clear Senate Bill 99 is a priority of his ahead of a vote on the proposal scheduled for Tuesday in the House Health Committee. Unspecified arm-twisting is underway, we’re told, including the potential delay of House bills if SB 99 isn’t taken up.
The legislation would allow new hospitals to be built in counties of fewer than 50,000 people without a “certificate of need” from state regulators, even if they’re close to existing hospitals. The program, which dates to the 1970s, was designed to control health care spending and spread services across rural areas. But some critics say they also prevent competition.
In this case, the debate hits home for the lieutenant governor. The sponsor, state Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, has frequently said the legislation is inspired by, and would greenlight, the proposed 100-bed hospital in Jones’ Butts County.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Officials there have complained that the Sylvan Grove Hospital, an aging 25-bed facility operated by Wellstar Health System, is struggling to care for a growing community.
Also involved in the push is Bill Jones, the millionaire businessman who is the father of the lieutenant governor.
He testified last year in favor of a similar measure at a hearing where he argued that Sylvan Grove needed to be replaced with a newer hospital as part of a valuable pending real estate development in the area.
The elder Jones also told lawmakers that when he needs certain medical care, he goes to Emory University hospital, according to our AJC colleague Ariel Hart. That’s about 60 miles from the Jones’ home base in Jackson.
“We feel like it’s time,” Jones said at the 2022 hearing.
Wellstar said it’s invested millions to modernize facilities in the area and opposes the construction. They warned this month that a new hospital in Butts could threaten both Sylvan Grove and another Wellstar hospital in Griffin. Democrats said the bill is a carve out for the hospital Jones wants built.
Separately, Wellstar has also drawn withering criticism from Georgia leaders after shuttering the Atlanta Medical Center last year, a closure that triggered calls from Democrats for a federal investigation into the decision.
The rural hospital measure could get bound up in House-Senate negotiations in the final days of the session. As Senate lawmakers are keen to remind, that chamber has approved more than 60 House measures. Only a handful of Senate proposals have been passed by the House.
The lieutenant governor is not shying away from his support. His spokeswoman Ines Owens said Jones is fighting for “quality health care rather than those who want to protect the status quo every single time.”
“There are Gold Dome special interests fighting against the expansion of rural hospitals,” she said. “It’s the same special interests that shut down Atlanta Medical Center last fall, causing overflow to other hospitals throughout Atlanta. The irony is rich.”
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TRUMP CHARGES. While we wait for news from Fulton County’s probe, the Manhattan district attorney appears to be readying criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is reportedly presenting evidence to a grand jury involving Trump’s alleged involvement in a hush money scheme with former porn star Stormy Daniels.
In a preemptive move, the former president said on his social media site that he would be arrested on Tuesday as he called for protests to “take our nation back.”
Metro Atlanta law enforcement agencies are on alert and some conservatives are already urging peaceful demonstrations. Pro-Trump activist Debbie Dooley cautioned protesters to be “nice and courteous” — and steer clear of government buildings.
It’s not clear how many Republicans will heed Trump’s rallying cry. His calls for protest, which immediately evoke the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, were not widely embraced by national GOP leaders.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters Sunday that he doesn’t think anyone should protest if Trump is charged. “We want calmness,” he said
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Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- 8 am: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 am: The House gavels in;
- 10 am: The Senate convenes.
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ON THE MOVE. With time ticking to Day 40, here are the bills we’re still watching at the General Assembly:
- House Bill 30, which would define antisemitism so certain offenses could be considered hate crimes, is set for a 4 p.m. hearing Monday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- We’re watching for the next move on House Bill 237, the bill that was stripped of its original soapbox derby language last week and used as a vehicle to legalize sports betting this session. That measure quickly passed a Senate committee last week.
- Also on our radars: the House passed the $32.4 billion state budget more than a week ago, but it is still pending in the state Senate.
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Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC
FOR YOUR CALENDARS:
- HBCU Heritage Day at the state Capitol today is expected to include the presidents of all 10 of Georgia’s historically Black colleges and universities. State Sen. Sonya Halpern, D-Atlanta, is the sponsor for the event.
- Sine Die is set for Wednesday, March 29.
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NOT FAR ENOUGH. Two of Georgia’s GOP members of Congress say the current language in state Senate Bill 140 to ban certain health care for transgender minors doesn’t go far enough.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the measure on Twitter and told a Forsyth County GOP group it is “too vague” and would be susceptible to a legal challenge.
And U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick said a provision in the measure gives health care providers leeway to deliver certain treatments when “medically necessary.”
“In its current state this bill is little more than a messaging piece as the language is not binding and has many loopholes,” he wrote on Facebook.
The legislation has cleared both chambers of the General Assembly, but it won’t reach Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk until lawmakers hash out differences between their two versions.
In a weekend piece, the AJC’s Maya T. Prabhu and Ariel Hart spoke to transgender teenagers about the legislation, which would limit doctors from providing surgical and hormonal treatment to transgender minors.
And local critics of the measure held a silent protest over the weekend across the street from the Dahlonega home of Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, who supports the legislation.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
KEMP CLIPS. Gov. Brian Kemp continues to be on the radar of national newsrooms.
The New York Times’ David Brooks included Kemp in the shortlist of GOP alternatives to what he considers a losing two-man field of Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The conclusion I draw is that the Trump-DeSantis duopoly is unstable and represents a wing of the party many people are getting sick of. What does that mean? Maybe somebody like Kemp is coaxed into running,” Brooks wrote.
And the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board devoted its lead editorial Friday to Kemp, but it wasn’t as glowing as Kemp’s national narrative lately.
“Where’s Brian Kemp on School Choice?” they wrote. “The Georgia Governor is missing in action as reform stalls in Atlanta.”
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HOSTAGE SABOTAGE? The New York Times’ Peter Baker posted an explosive report over the weekend featuring a former Texas politician who acknowledged helping to derail President Jimmy Carter’s 1980 reelection bid.
Ben Barnes said he joined a clandestine mission with his mentor, Texas Lt. Gov. John Connally Jr., to travel to the Middle East, where they urged Iranian leaders to hold 52 American hostages captive until after the 1980 election, which Carter ultimately lost to Ronald Reagan.
Barnes told Baker that he felt the need to come forward after 98-year-old Carter announced he had entered hospice care.
“History needs to know that this happened,” Barnes told Baker. “I think it’s so significant, and I guess knowing that the end is near for President Carter put it on my mind more and more and more. I just feel like we’ve got to get it down some way.”
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
HERSCHEL HELPER: The campaign of failed Republican Senate hopeful Herschel Walker filed an amended disclosure over the weekend that reported he still has more than $5.1 million in cash on hand.
It also documented roughly $1.3 million in expenditures since his December runoff defeat to Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, mostly in the form of contracts owed to political firms.
Among the biggest expenditures was $127,500 to Michelle Beagle for “logistics consulting” on Dec. 19. Beagle is a close friend of Walker’s wife Julie Blanchard and was criticized by some of his former aides for her role in the losing bid.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. Senate and House are out today but return later in the week.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. The only thing better than one Jolt Dog of the Day are two, so it’s time to meet Biko and Winston Taylor.
Biko and Winston call Camille Taylor their person, as do most reporters at the state Capitol. As the senior media specialist for the House, she is a constant presence in the House press gallery and guide for reliable information about the chamber and its workings.
Taylor recently adopted Biko, a Husky mix, after finding him wandering on the Atlanta Beltline, when he then joined Winston in the family. Winston’s hobbies include taking naps, while Biko’s new hobby is trying to wake Winston up from said naps.
A source tells us that, like their owner, Biko and Winston are ready for the legislative session to end so they start traveling and hiking again.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats, on a cat-by-cat basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
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